Chapter II

1. THE Lord went abroad over the earth, calling: Come to me, O man! Behold thy Lord is returned!

2. But man heard not the voice of the Lord; for, by man's indulgence, the spirit of man was covered up in his own flesh.

3. The Lord sent his loo'is (masters of generations, angels next in rank above guardian angels, i.e., ashars) to the I'hins, and they raised up heirs unto the Lord; by controlling the parentage of the unborn brought they into the world a new race of men, of the same seed and blood as of old, and these heard the voice of the Lord.

4. And the Lord said unto man: Because thou kept not my commandments thou hast brought affliction upon thyself, and thy people, to the farthest ends of the world.

5. Now will I raise thee up once more, and deliver the tribes of men from darkness into light.

6. And the Lord delivered man into wisdom, and peace and virtue; and the earth became as a garden of sweet smelling flowers and luxurious fruit.

7. The Lord said: How sayst thou, O man? Shalt thou still have a keeper?

8. And man said: Behold, I am strong and wise. Go thou away from the earth. I understand thy commandments.

9. The Lord inquired: Knowest thou the meaning of, Love thy Creator? And man said: Yea, Lord; and to love my neighbor as myself; and to do good unto others with all my wisdom and strength. Yea, I have the All Highest Light. I am wiser than the ancients. Behold, I want no Lord nor God; I am the highest product of all the universe.

10. The Lord said: I will try thee, O man; I will go away for a season.

11. So the Lord departed once more. And man had nothing to look up to, so he looked at himself and became vainglorious. And the tribes of men aspired to overcome one another; war and destruction followed.

12. Man forgot his Creator; he said: No Eye seeth me, no Ear heareth me. And he neglected to guard himself against the serpent (corporeality); and the serpent said unto him: Partake thou of all things, for they are thine.

13. And man gave heed, and, lo and behold, the race of man descended into utter darkness. And man distinguished not his sister or mother; and woman distinguished not her brother or father.

14. And God beheld the wickedness of man, and he called out, saying: Hear my voice, O man! Hear the voice of the Lord!

15. But because of the darkness of man he could not hear the voice of God, his Lord.

16. And the Lord sent his angels down to man that they might appeal to man's understanding.

17. But the angels loved darkness also, and strove not to lift man up out of darkness. And the Lord was of no more avail amongst mortals, and he departed away from the earth. And man became on the earth as a harvest that is blighted and rotted because of its rankness.